Ruining vintage stuff :(

[MadelienneBlack]

My own dumb fault.

It's not something I ruined directly, but I suppose in a round-about way it's my fault.

I do a lot of theatre, and my most recent show was West Side Story. Since it's set in 1959, or there about, I thought I'd be really nice and allow the costume department to borrow 4 of my vintage 1950 cocktail dresses for the dance at the gym scene. Real always looks better than repo, right? I gave the costume master specific instructions on how I didn't mind if they used the dresses, but please PLEASE be sure to hang them up each evening, and be extra careful with buttons and zippers and such. I also noted that they were not to be altered under any circumstances. You had to find the girls to fit them, not the other way around. He gladly agreed, so I thought it'd be fine.

Well, when I walked into the dressing room a couple days later and saw them laying in a heap I almost died. But not as much as when I saw one girl who was wearing my 1950's vintage blue lace prom dress rip off the sleeves and make spaghetti straps because "the sleeves were too tight". She claimed she didn't know it was my dress, or that it was original. I could have throttled her.

Needless to say, the dresses came back in terrible shape. I have to sew a strap back and fix a hem on one, and fix a zipper on another. There's not much hope for the prom dress now. Plus, I'll have them all cleaned professionally.

Lesson learned.

 

[Rachael]

I learned long ago the hard way to never ever loan anything to a theater. No matter how well-intended the director is, something bad will happen. If the altruistic urge strikes, I advise to drop them off, write them off, and never see a show there again.

bad bad bad memories. wool washed in hot water. crinolines shredded for effect. stage blood stains. bad.

 

[MadelienneBlack]

I learned long ago the hard way to never ever loan anything to a theater. No matter how well-intended the director is, something bad will happen. If the altruistic urge strikes, I advise to drop them off, write them off, and never see a show there again.

bad bad bad memories. wool washed in hot water. crinolines shredded for effect. stage blood stains. bad.

Oh trust me, I feel your pain. Seeing that girl tear the sleeves off was enough to traumatize me for a damn good while.

 

[Frankie Lamb]

Go ahead, just shoot me!

When I was 16 I bought a 1936 Ford from Cecil B. De mill's caretaker through a friend. The man had bought the car new and only drove it from C.B.'s ranch, where it was garaged, once a month or so to get provisions. It was a beautiful olive green, with pin-stripes. This was in 1953, and I paid $50.00 for it which I'd saved up for, for a long time. Now the bad news; back then, any self respecting teen wouldn't be caught dead driving a "stock" car; everyone would accuse him of driving "Daddy's" car! So, like only a brain dead teenager could do, I set out to make it look "cool" by dropping the front end and jacking up the rear end to give it a "rake" and the official "teen approved" nod. Then, I sprayed grey primer on a few selective spots to make it look like a "Custom" in progress. After I hung the pair a black, fuzzy dice my girl-friend knitted for me from the rear view mirror, I became one of the local "hip,slick, and very cool cats of San Fernando Valley. To top it off, within six months I'd blown two clutches by "speed shifting" and developed enough rattles from my newly designed suspension system to make the old girl sound like a box full of empty tin cans coming down the street.
There's no doubt in my mind that when I die, if I'm lucky enough to see pearly gates and not flames, I will have a lot of 'splainin' to do before I'm allowed in. Boy, I sure hope I don't run into that old caretaker!
Frankie Lamb

 

[Smuterella]

Fairly recently I decided my red vintage deadstock Jantzen sweater would be fine in the wash (I washed it on 20 degrees, delicate cycle for pete's sake!). It came out looking like a childs top. I wish there was a way to stratch wool as I loved that top, it was the most wonderful cherry red.

I also have a terrible habit of forgetting to unpin my brooches from clothes before taking them off and hence before washing. I have ruined one gorgeous 40's brooch this way.

 

[Spiffy]

Needless to say, the dresses came back in terrible shape. I have to sew a strap back and fix a hem on one, and fix a zipper on another. There's not much hope for the prom dress now. Plus, I'll have them all cleaned professionally.
Lesson learned.

GAH! That's the worst. Never never never trust a theater, an acting student, amateur theatre group, or film student. I've been involved on both sides and somehow, through accident or malice, whatever you lent will return broken, stained, altered or just not at all.

If you really feel guilty about saying no, I'd suggest making a donation towards the performance. The artists will appreciate it and you won't be pulling your fingernails out thinking of the dreadful tortures being inflicted on your vintage.

Personally, the worst I've ever done was shattered an antique hurricane lamp (on a film set, of course), and I ruined a pair of 40's red suede kitten heels in the rain.

 

[John in Covina]

Loaned to of dads fedoras to the High School Play - one never came back.

Who ever took it I hope they never have a minutes peace with it.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Theaters just aren't designed for delicate vintage, unless they'll be used only as reference garments. I've interned at a costume shop, and the clothes go through a lot on stage, and are altered to within an inch of their lives. Never ever lend anything that you don't care about losing. The best case scenario is that it gets stained with stage makeup and sweat.

 

[KittyT]

I just soaked a 50s skirt for 24 hours in Oxyclean. While the skirt came out fine, it completely destroyed the button on the waistband! It was a colored button made of what I assumed was some type of plastic, didn't look painted at all. Completely stripped all the color and when it came out of the Oxyclean, the button material was so soft I could bend it and scrape off bits of it with my fingernail. Enough playing and musing over the button and the thing just broke into pieces.

Anyone else ever seen anything like this happen? At least it's just the button and replaceable, but it seems like for everything I soak successfully in Oxyclean, there's something else that gets ruined.

 

[kampkatz]

When I lent some old uniforms to a local high school for a play some years ago I was assured by the director that they would take good care of them. After the play one shirt had a big red stain(makeup?) that would not come out. I stopped lending to the school after that experience.

 

[vitanola]

I left the storage battery in an early radio on to charge ofr several days. the acid biold over and ate a rather large hole in some 1850's Venetian carpeting.

I now use throw rugs in that room.:eusa_doh:

 

[decodoll]

I think the only things I've ruined were pieces that had issues I was trying to fix to start with. I had a late 30's suit with a jacket with major BO issues -- not from me, it came to me that way. Anyway, after trying all sorts of things to get the smell out (dry cleaning just made it worse), I decided to try Oxyclean. The lining unfortunately was not colour fast. The other was a blouse that I got really cheap because it had a stain right on the center front. Lesson learned with both of them... always remove covered buttons before soaking. They rust.

 

[StaceFace]

As terrible as all these things are, at least I don't feel so horrible and isolated in my stupidity anymore lol . It all started like this...My grandfather had passed this summer and I had the perfect ensemble for the funeral. I'm not sure what the fabric of the dress was, but it was relatively heavy and had a beautiful drape; perhaps an acetate? Anyway, it was pretty muggy and warm that day, so I wanted to get rid of any perspiration odor I might have left. Not sure of whether I should take it to the cleaners or not (yay for being on a tight budget), I decided to soak it in the sink with cold water and a little Woolite. Upon taking it out, it appeared the dress had shrunk to maybe a child's size! :eusa_doh: I almost cried! Out of desperation, I tried to flatten and morph it back into shape and ultimately hung it to dry. The next day I checked back on it and AMAZINGLY it had come back to its original size. Needless to say, I will stick with the cleaners from now on, even if that means scouring the couch for change lol